Knockdown table and the like.



G. C. KELLY.

KNOCKDOWN TABLE AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. 1916.

Patented June 11; 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' e. c. KELLY.

KNOCKDOWN TABLE AND THE LIKE. v APPL ION map APR.24, 191s. v 1 269,193,,Patented June 11; 1918.

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I in sieve-tiers GROVER o. KELLY, 0E BUFFALO, INEWYYORKY- ATEN oEEroE. II

KNOCKDOWN TABLE AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent. P t t d J ne 11, 191

Application filed April 24, 1916. Serial No. 93,243.

adapted to have its component parts disassembled for convenientlystoring thesame.

Tables of this type are used occasionally in clubs and in hotels andother public places, for banquets and the like,'and"are invariablystored within a compact space when not in use. It is often foundnecessary to quickly remove the tables after a banquet so that the spaceoccupied by them may be cleared and used for other purposes.

'It is the purpose of my invention to provide a table of this character,the 'component parts of which can be quickly assembled and disassembled,and which when assembled, will be capable of sustaining considerableweight and will also rigidly support the table top and furnish a solidstructure. It also has for its object to provide a table of this typewhich is simple in construction, inexpensive and durable, and thecomponent parts of which can be assembled with ease and speed and whichcan be readily disassembled. 7

It has for a further object to provide a table which may be constructedof light material so as to reduce the weight to the minimum, thusenabling the same to be conveniently transported or moved about from oneplace to another.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel features of construction and in the arrangement and combination ofparts to'be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in thesubjoined claims. I

In the drawings,

I Figure 1 is a side elevation of a table constructed according to 'myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 22, Fig. 1', looking up.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through a portion of the table taken online 3-3, Fig. I

1, the lower portion of the leg being shown Fig. 41 is an enlargedfragmentary section taken on line H, F ig.'8.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken online 55, Fig. 1'. Flg.6 is a detached perspective view of one of the swinging leg braces orbrace members. i

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section taken on line 77, Fig. 8, with the bracemember in dotted lines in said last-mentioned'figure illustrated in fulllines.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a tableprovided with a pair ofintermediate legs.

Reference being had to the drawings in detail, 10 designates thetabletop which is shown of rectangular formation, butlmay be round orotherwise formed. Arranged lengthwise on the underside of saidtop aretwo metallic stiffening'bars '11, 12, each bar having at oppositeends-hollow enlargements or sockets 13 and each enlargement or sockethas a lateral projection 14 extending toward the transverse center ofthetable top and spaced from the underside of 'the' bar by a notch 15.The bars 11, 12 are-screwed or otherwise fastened to theunderside of thetable-top and serve to prevent warping of the top. By arranging the barslengthwise on theunderside of the top, the latter may be-madecomparatively thin so that a table" of light weight results from suchconstruclZlOll.

At suitable distances from the enlargements or sockets 13 I apply to theunderside of the bars 11, 12, latch-receiving socket-- members 16, butif desired, these members may be formed integrally with said bars orsecured directly to the underside of the table top.

The parts thus far described constitute the table top'or one of thecomponent parts of the table. In a table of ordinary length, two pairsof legs will be found suflicient to properly support the top and anyweight it may have to carry, but a table of con-' siderable length mayrequire one or more. intermediate pairs of legs,- as shown in "Fig. 8;but in either case the end pairs of legs are similarly constructed. Eachend pair of legs forms one ofthe component parts of the table andcomprises'two connected leg members 17 which are preferably reduced inthickness at their upperends, as at '18, to provide a shoulder 19. Theselegs may be of any cross sectional formation and of to be withdrawn fromsaid sockets.

connected together by a connecting or tie member 20, preferably intheform shown, but any other form of connecting member may be used solong as it is capable of rigidly connecting and maintaining the legs ofa each pair in connected condition.

Mounted for horizontal swinging movement on the reduced upper end ofeach of said legs isa brace member 21- ,Eaclibraoe member comprisesconverging arms 22, 23,

i one of which is substantially horizontaland the other inclined'to meetthe outer end of the. horizontal arm at which end thebrace member has anenlargement or head 24:.

(The inner ends of the arms 22, 23 are providedwith alined hubs 25having openings 26 therethrough. Through the openings of the alined hubsofeach brace member the upper reduced end of a leg member 17 is passedand when inserting a leg member through said hubs, a spacing sleeve27 isplaced upon the leg member so as to fit between said hubs, said spacingsleeve 27 being pinned to the leg member, as at 29.

Each of the leg members extends upwardly beyond the upper surface of theupper hub 25,as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

The projecting upper ends of the leg members of each pair of legs areinserted within the sockets .13 of the metallic bars 11, 12 at the sameend of the table, and when thus arranged'the brace members are .f'reetoswing on the'table legs. The upper or horizontal arms 22 of the bracemembers are provided with upward and inward projections .30 formingsubstantially locking hooks which are adapted to swing into the notches15 of the sockets 13 when said members are swung pa'rallelwith the sideedges of .the table top. When the parts of the table are disassembled,the brace members of each, pair of legs are swung transversely,

as shownbydotted lines in Fig. 3, and are thus situated between thelegs. fpositionedfthe locking hooks of said memiVhen thus bers aredisengaged from the notches inl'he sockets 13 soithat the connected legsare free allel with the side edges ofthe table top,

or substantially so, .they are preferably locked at their outer'ends tothe table top,

.a'nd-for this purpose a spring latch 31 is arrangedrslidably withineach of. the heads 24; at said, outer ends. Each enlargement or, headitherefore has a socket 32 formed ..therein. and arsmalibore 33extending from said socket downwardly to the bottom face of'theenlargement' Each latch 31 comprises a sliding bolt 36 fitting in thesocket32, a rod 37 formed on said bolt and fitting in the bore 33, and acoil spring 38 surrounding the rod and bearing at one end against saidbolt and at its other end against the bottom wall of the socket,thusserving to hold the engaging end of said bolt projected from theupper face of said enlargement or head. moths projecting end of said roda head A2 is threaded or otherwise secured so as to permit ofconveniently manipulating the latch. The enlargement or head 24 at theouter end of each brace member has a dovetailed portion 14i projectingfrom its upper face which is adapted to enter a correspondingly formedgroove in the cooperatingdatch-receiving socket member, thus when thebrace members are swung into bracing position, the dove-tailedprojection of each enters the correspondingly formed groove of itscooperating socket member and prevents flexing of the table top in avertical direction,

The table top is thus effectually locked and the legs properly braced tosustain any weight which may be placed upon the table.

The connecting members 20 are archshaped, asshown in Fig. 3, thus givingspace for the legs of a person sitting at the end of a table. In crosssectioneach of these connecting members is of angle formation, exceptmidlength where a- {flange 45 is formed along the inner edge of themember, the latter being adapted to be engaged by the sliding bolts 36of the braces when they are swung transversely for the purposeof storingthe component parts of the table, the mere swinging of the bracescausing the curved faces at .the outer ends of the bolts to engage theflanges 4:5, and by the latter be caused to retract against the actionof the springs 38, which springs immediately force the latch boltsoutwardly afterthey have passed the inner. faces of said-flanges, asclearly shown in Fig. 7. I

VVhen an intermediate pair of legs are used, the brace members areextended in opposite directions from the supporting legs 'to which. theyare attached, as showninFig. 8, thus the hub portion is situated betweenthe enlargements or heads at the outer ends of the brace members; thebrace members being otherwise constructed similar'to'those applied tothe end pairs of legs. However, if desired, a pair of bracemembersadapted to swing in opposite directions'maybe plied to thereduced upper end of each supporting leg.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. An article offurniture comprising a top member having sockets, two pairs of connectedlegs, a swinging brace member applied to each leg, a dove-tailedconnection between said top member and the free or outer end of saidbrace member, and means for detachably fitting the upper ends of saidlegs into said sockets.

2. An article of furniture comprising a top member having two pairs ofsockets, two pairs of connected legs having their upper ends fitted intosaid sockets, a swinging brace member applied to each leg, co-actinglocking elements on said brace members and sockets, and means fordetachably connecting the outer ends of said brace members with said topmember at points distant from said sockets.

3. A knock-down table comprising a table top having sockets providedwith horizontal notches, table legs having their upper ends slidablyretained in said sockets, and swinging elements on said table legshaving hookshaped portions adapted to enter the notches of said sockets.

l. A knock-down table comprising a table top having a plurality ofsockets, each socket having a lateral projection and a horizontal notchbetween said lateral projection and said table top, a leg having itsupper end inserted into each of said sockets, and a brace memberarranged on each leg and having its axis coincident with the axis of itscooperating leg so as to swin thereon and also having a horizontallydisposed hook-shaped portion adapted to enter the notch of thecooperating socket, each brace member having a spring latch at its outerend adapted for connection with the table top.

5. A knock-down table comprising a table top having sockets, each socketbeing provided with a notch, a pair of connected legs at each end of thetable having their upper portions detachably fitted into said sockets, aswinging brace member on each leg beneath its socket having a projectingportion engaging the notch of said socket and having also an enlargementat its outer end provided with a spring latch, and socket members on theunderside of said table top adapted to receive said spring latches.

6. A knock-down table comprising a table top having a pair of spacedparallel reinforcing bars secured to the underside thereof, each barhaving a socket at each end, a pair of connected legs at each end of thetable detachably fitted into the sockets at said end; a brace memberheld on each leg to swing thereon and comprising outwardly convergingarms provided with an enlargement at their outer ends, the upper arm ofeach brace member having means interlocking with its cooperating socket,a spring latch in each of said enlargements, and socket members on theunderside of said table top adapted to be engaged by said spring latch.

7. A knock-down table comprising a table top having spaced reinforcingbars secured to its underside provided with sockets at opposite ends,each socket having a notch formed therein, a pair of connectedsupporting legs at opposite ends of the table top having their upperends detachably fitted into said sockets, brace members arranged toswing on said supporting legs so as to assume positions between the legsof each pair or positions parallel with the sides of the table, eachbrace having a projecting portion adapted to fit into the notch of thecooperating socket when swung into the lastmentioned position and havingalso a dovetailed projection at its outer end, socket members secured tothe underside of the table top having dove-tailed grooves to receivesaid dove-tailed rojections, and a spring latch in each of said headsadapted to latch into said socket members.

8. A knock-down table comprising a table top having notched sockets, aleg adapted to detachably fit into each socket, socket members securedto the underside of said table top, each having a dove-tailed groove,

and swinging braces on said legs, each brace comprisin converging armshaving hub portions tting onto its cooperating leg, an upwardly andinwardly extending portion adapted to enter the notch of the cooperatingsocket, and an enlargement at the outer ends of said arms havingdove-tailed projections adapted to fit the dove-tailed groove of itscooperating socket member and a spring latch within each enlargement or1ead adapted to engage said socket memers.

9. A knock-down table comprising a table top, two pairs of connectedlegs connected to said table top and a swinging element on each of saidtable legs, each swinging element having its axis coincident with theaxis of the leg on which it swings and being adapted to lock and bracethe table top to said leg and to be locked in position between a pair ofconnected legs when disconnecting the legs from the table top.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GROVER C. KELLY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0."

